Video highlights community spirit and enthusiasm as hundreds in Leighton Buzzard volunteer to help during pandemic

National Volunteers’ Week takes place from June 1 to 7 every year to celebrate volunteering and thank volunteers for their time, energy and commitment.

But with many of the planned volunteer celebration events postponed due to the Covid-19 situation, Community Action Bedfordshire decided to mark this year’s Volunteers’ Week by producing their Volunteers’ Week 2020 – A Time To Say Thank You video to express their huge gratitude to everyone who has given up time over the past year, and more recently during the Covid-19 crisis.

Community Action Bedfordshire is the accredited Volunteer Centre for Central Bedfordshire and Luton. They have been working in partnership with Central Bedfordshire Council and other partner organisations to coordinate the volunteering response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the county.

Across Bedfordshire they have seen thousands of people registering their interest to volunteer and support their communities at this uncertain time.

In Leighton Buzzard, more than 200 residents came forward to offer to help, registering via the Central Bedfordshire Council website or contacting them directly. They also appreciate that many people are volunteering informally in their communities by helping friends, family and neighbours. Many have also continued their volunteering or started new volunteering roles to support with the Covid-19 response.

Kay Henderson, Volunteer Centre Manager at Community Action Bedfordshire, said: “It is extremely encouraging and heart-warming to see such a fantastic community response at this difficult time and we hope that we can sustain this sense of community spirit and enthusiasm to volunteer moving forward.”

"We were inspired by all the creative and thoughtful ways organisations were saying thank you to their volunteers during this challenging time and wanted to create the video to show appreciation to everyone volunteering and helping; from individuals helping their neighbours via the Nextdoor Neighbourhood App and the Good Neighbourhood Schemes, to all those involved with the Leighton Linslade Covid-19 Task Force Group and Leighton Listeners volunteer group, to those supporting the NHS and the emergency response.

"Thank you to everyone who contributed to this video by sending us photographs and quotes. The video captures the true spirit of volunteering as it wouldn’t have been possible to have created such a professional video without enlisting the technical expertise of volunteers who came forward to help during Covid-19 – thank you to Lizzy, Sam and Adrian for volunteering their time and support to help with this project!"

To view the video, search on You Tube: “Volunteers’ Week 2020 – A Time to say Thank you”, visit the website: www.cabeds.org.uk or follow them on social media: Facebook Twitter @CABedfordshire.